SXSW: Jack White

Friday, 11:45 p.m. @ The Stage on Sixth

Promo photo by Jo McCaughey; photography was not allowed at this showcase

Jack White has seen much success with just one other player accompanying him onstage. With his debut solo album on the horizon, though, he's bringing in reinforcements. Many reinforcements. His headlining performance at his own Third Man Records showcase saw the man playing with no less than 11 different musicians across an hour-and-a-half, 21-song long set.

It was broken into two parts, the first featuring six women in baby blue dresses offering largely country-blues backing and the second featuring a more maximum rock'n'roll, five-man setup. White played most of his forthcoming record-- the songs ranged from twangy to superbly distorted-- and there were kiss-offs aplenty. And though it was exciting to be among the first to hear the new songs, it was even more fun to hear White's oldies revamped for a full band.

While nobody will confuse the White Stripes version of, say, "My Doorbell" with the Jack White band version, there are benefits to each. With his adept new players behind him, the track changed from a Paul McCartney-style piano bouncer to a Who-style rock blitz featuring White on guitar instead of piano. There was certainly a key element of spontaneity missing from this gig compared to any White Stripes show-- it's a lot harder to make in-the-moment song changes with a five- or six-piece band than it is with one drummer-- and it's increasingly clear that the musical relationship between Jack and Meg can not be replicated.

So my favorite Stripes songs here were the ones that were given more of an overhaul, like "Hotel Yorba", which easily turned into a full-on country stomp in the hands of the all-female band. White is still a startlingly engaging performer, but with the high-wire drama of a two-person band replaced with more traditional instrumentation on the Stripes songs, some of the danger dissipated. But that didn't matter much when the black-clad male band launched into "Ball and Biscuit", White's guitar joined by bass, keyboards, a wildly talented drummer, and slide guitar. That electric blues track was big and bad enough to make you forget, for however brief a time, that the White Stripes may never do another show again.